See you some other time

Dear friends of MotorTips,

I have maintained this blog for the past two years with a lot of joy and pride of the work it helped me to develop. MotorTips has since been a huge source of satisfaction, but now I have taken new professional responsibilities that will prevent me from keep on writing here. That said, I would like to thank everyone that has visited MotorTips during this time. MotorTips will eventually get back to business, but now it will stay dormant for a while.

All the best,

Gustavo

Gordon Murray Design releases first official pictures and specs of T.25

Gordon Murray Design has just released the first official images of the T.25. The car will be presented for the public for the firt time at the Smith School’s World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, in Oxford, this Monday, June 28th. But you can check it out right now.



The new car, represented here by its prototype, the XP1, also called Lizzie (an hommage to the United Kingdom queen), is 2.40 m long, 1.60 m tall and only 1.30 m wide. It will allow two of these cars to share the same lane in roads and streets. And this is one of the objectives of the company: to protect personal mobility. Not appealing to easy ideas, but giving small cars some of the same solutions McLaren F1 has adopted back in 1992: bonded steel structure and central driving position.



Have a look at the steering wheel. Behind it you can see the pads used for changing gears. T.25 has a five speed semi-automatic sequential transmission that controls the three-cylinder 660 cm³ engine. It is able to deliver 52 bhp at 7,000 rpm and 57 Nm at 4,000 rpm. For a car that weighs only 575 kg, that is enough. This would allow the car to reach 156 km/h if it was not limited to 145 km/h. It also makes T.25 reach 100 km/h from 0 in 16.2 s. This may not be a very appealing performance, but, since the goal is fuel efficiency, something that the central gauge proves by indicating the fuel consumption, we may have to change priorities.



The last interesting characteristic of T.25 is its door, or else, its canopy, similar to the ones used in airplanes. Besides letting all three occupants enter and leave the car, it also works fine in tight parking places. The passengers travel just behind the driver and the car also carries 160 l of luggage. If no passenger is in the car, luggage capacity can reach up to 720 l.



Dinamically speaking, T.25 counts on full independent suspension, rear wheel drive, ABS, ESP and traction control as standard equipment. This is the first product of the iStream manufacturing technology, but it surely won't be its last. T.27, the electric version of T.25, is also on the works, but many more vehicles are sure to arise. Gordon Murray speaks of developing cars for specific countries, such as Brazil. We count on that.







Source: Car and Driver Brasil

Fifth generation of VW Polo Sedan appears in India disguised as a Ford

The world presentation of the new VW Polo Sedan, based on the fifth generation of the hatchback, was expected to happen at the 2010 edition of Auto Delhi, in India, but it didn't. Anyway, India seems to have a love affair with this car and it has appeared there for the first time almost undisguised, as our friends from Source: Motoroids have managed to register. See the images below:



The images indicate the new car may as well be presented in Gandhi's homeland. Its production is already confirmed to take place at the VW Talegaon plant, but India will not be the only country that will produce the new vehicle. China, Russia and Brazil may also see the car produced in their VW plants.

Getting back to the pictures Motoroids has managed to snap, one can initially think this car is a new Mondeo, or a Ford Focus Sedan, if the rear lights and the blue oval badge on the back were to be taken into consideration. But the fact is these are only fake accessories added to hide the car's true identity. With a very small success rate, let's say.




Pay attention to the tail lights. The upper part is made of red tape, only to make them seem like Focus Sedan rear lights. The real thing is much smaller, and the internal lines of these pieces show the same angles the tail lights of the Polo V bear. In the picture below, Motoroids has managed to spot the round space reserved for the VW logo, just under the fake blue oval badge.



Motoroids guys have also made this comparative image below, which confirm the real identity of the new car. It can be stated through the rear mirrors, the radio antenna and the sidelines of the car. In other words, Motoroids managed to get a world exclusive. Hats off for them!



Source: Motoroids

Citroën reveals first pictures of the new AirCross, the adventure version of C3 Picasso

Citroën has announced last year it intends to present a lot of new vehicles. Most of them will be versions of existing cars, such as the new AirCross, an "adventure" version of the C3 Picasso. The company will first present it in Brazil, possibly in the second semester of 2010, but its first official images have been presented today, through its Twitter. Check them below.



The AirCross, codenamed A58, is only different from the C3 Picasso due to a higher suspension and to some external aspects, such as the front grille, entirely new, the spare tire, fixed on the back door of the car, side skirts and inscriptions with the name of the car all around.

Due to the spare tire, its total lenght must be a little bigger than 4.08 m. The higher suspension must have also contributed to make it taller than the regular 1.62 m tall C3 Picasso, but it must still be 1.73 m wide. Its luggage compartment, able to hold 500 l, must be a little bigger, considering the space reserved for the spare tire must have been seized to carry small stuff.

Engines must be limited to one choice, the 1.6-litre 16V flex unit already in use in Brazil, if it is not a little bigger, or else, the 2-litre unit already in use by the C4 family, also capable of running on ethanol or gasoline in any proportion. We'll be sure about all data when the car gets its official presentation, in some months from now.



Source: Twitter

Lotus releases images and info on its first electric car, the Evora 414E Hybrid

When people say electric cars can be exciting, some will doubt it. Tesla has already tried to prove them wrong with the Roadster, but the final statement on that must come from Lotus, a company that is widely known for its sports cars with superb handling. That final statement is called Evora 414E Hybrid.



Lotus calls it a hybrid, but only because it also uses a combustion engine. Since it is a mere range extender, we do not understand it is a hybrid car, but a full electric car with some old timer's help.

The new machine will be able to accelerate from 0 to 97 km/h in under 4 s, something that can be credited to its two electric engines, which drive the rear wheels in an independent way.

The number 414 is due to the power of the car, 414 ps/306 kW, since each engine has been limited (yes, that's right) to produce only 207 ps/153 kW each. Torque is 400 Nm, 200 Nm in each engine.

Since range is what electric car detractor more fiercely attack, the Evora 414E Hybrid can run up to 483 km with the help of its range extender, a 1.2-litre three cylinder engine designed by Lotus specifically to generate electric energy. Able to generate 48 ps/35 kW, it weighs only 85 kg, in accordance with the low weight philosophy from Lotus.

Since this is a plug-in car, the Lithium Polymer batteries can make the car run up to 56 km, more than enough for most people to go from work back home, and home to work, on a day-to-day basis. No word on how long they take to recharge, but surely no more than 8 hours, or a good night of sleep.

Lotus treats the car as a concept, one of its biggest attractions for Geneva, but the British carmaker can surely come up with a production version of this beauty very soon. That's the advantage of a small and agile structure.

Source: Lotus